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BELLIGERENT EIGHTS-FREE CUBA. 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. J. MARSHALL HAGANS, 

OF WEST VIRGINIA, 

IN THE 

Wouse op Representatives, 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1875, 

ON 

ACCORDING BELLIGERENT RIGHTS TO THE CUBAN REVOLUTIONISTS. 



I beseech you 
Wrest once the law to your authority. 

Merchant of Venice. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 

1874. 






'Z~7%C?7 



V 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. J. MARSHALL HAGANS, 

OF WEST VIRGINIA. 



On the following joint resolution introduced by him January 18, 1875: 

1 ' Whereas the heroic struggle of the insurgents on the island of Cuba has excited 
the sympathy of the civilized nations of the world, and has been maintained for a 
period of time sufficient, according to the customs and practices of civilized govern- 
ments, to entitle the insurrectionary government of that island to be accorded bel- 
ligerent rights in the manner and under the rules known to the law of nations : 
Therefore, 

"Resolved by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica in Congress assembled, That it is the sense of this Congress that a recognition of 
said insurrectionary government should be made by the Government of the United 
States so far as to bring hostilities in that island within the rules known to civilized 
warfare." 

Mr. HAGANS said : 

Mr. Speaker : Of all the nations of the globe, ours is the one 
which, by reason of its own origin, of its history, of all its most 
sacred traditions, of the fundamental ideas of its government, is 
under the most lasting obligations, both by reason and sentiment, to 
sympathize with any people struggling for the rights and liberties 
which the philosophy of the age has pronounced to be common to all 
men. Whenever a people propose to throw off a despotism, or under- 
take to relieve themselves from the evils of government based upon 
hereditary claims or mere "authority," and establish a system founded 
upon popular sovereignty, and where they show that their movement 
is in reality popular and not unreasonable discontent, they have a 
claim upon the American people for sympathy, and upou the great 
American Eepublic for recognition. And, I think, sir, that since the 
establishment of the American nation through the war of our glorious 
Ee volution, no people, whether in the eastern or western hemisphere, 
has sought to overthrow despotic power and to interweave popular 
rights in their institutions, which has not found its best arguments 
and the source of its highest eloquence in the history, the example, 
the men, and the ideas of America. The philosophic historian of the 
future, in recounting the scenes and incidents of the age, can but 
record that nowhere in Europe or America has despotic power been 
curtailed of its cruel demands and freedom gained a victory, save 
through the almost irresistible aid and example of the fathers of our 
Eepublic. By this sign have the nations conquered rulers ; by this sign 
do peoples go forth to freedom's feasts. 

If this position be conce led, and the great Eepublic of the western 
world can be justly regarded as the grand example among the na- 
tions struggling for free institutions, can it be otherwise than our 
plain duty to carefully examine into the facts concerning every 
movement of the oppressed in whatsoever land or in whatsoever clime 



it may occur ? But, above all, is it uot au imperative duty when the 
eveut arises withiu the borders of a realm from whence the cries of 
appeal come to our shores on the breath of every morning breeze ? 
The chief Executive of the nation has responded to the call, and has, 
so far as is consistent with his high position, formally called the at- 
tention of the country to the insurrection in Cuba, an insurrection 
which has maintained a formidable strength during many years. In 
his annual message to Congress at the beginning of the present ses- 
sion he says : 

The deplorable strife in Cuba continues without any market} change in the rela- 
tive advantages of the contending forces. The insurrection continues, but Spain 
has gained no superiority. Six years of strife give to the insurrection a significance 
■which cannot be denied. Its duration and the tenacity of its adherence, together 
with the absence of manifested power of suppression on the part of Spain, cannot 
be controverted, and may make some positive steps on the part of other powers a 
matter of self-necessity. I had confidently hoped at this time to be able to announce 
the arrangement of some of the important questions between this Government and 
that of Spain, but the negotiations have been protracted. The unhappy intestine 
dissensions of Spain command our profound sympathy, and must be accepted as 
perhaps a cause of some delay. An early settlement, in part at least, of the ques- 
tions between the Governments is hoped. In the mean time, awaiting the results of 
immediately pending negotiations, I defer a further and fuller communication on 
the subject of the relations of this country and Spain. 

These, sir, are words of great moderation. They are in fact the 
manifestation of a sublime patience on the part of the American 
Government which the nations of Europe that maintain different 
forms of government from our own cannot have failed to observe. 
They are also, when fully considered, a demonstration of the sublime 
faith of America in republican institutions. The people of this Re- 
public are not unobservant spectators of the heroic struggles of the 
Cuban patriots, and the inaction hitherto maintained by them can 
only be attributed to the most singular and interesting conjuncture 
of affairs in that country from whose remorseless tyranny these pat- 
riots would be free. 

Let us, sir, examine into that condition for a few moments. After 
years of grinding despotism, cruel government, and endurance of rulers 
whose gross and shameless licentiousness was flaunted in the face of 
Christendom, the people of Spain revolted against their disreputable 
monarchy and declared their government to be republican. At the 
head of it for a time was one of the most illustrious statesmen and 
pure and exalted patriots of the age, Emilio Castelar. This remark- 
able man, while perhaps the most eloquent orator of his time, is also 
a versatile and brilliant author. There are few, if any, more pro- 
found thinkers now "connected with the conduct of human affairs. 
Though his eloquence is like that of the heroic ages, as illustrated by 
the "resistless tide" of Demosthenes in the ancient world and the 
irresistible power of ourrown Patrick Henry, he is nevertheless one 
of the most practical of statesmen ; so that if it were practicable for 
Spain now to be republican, she could be so chiefly by the surpassing- 
genius of Emilio Castelar. Beyond all this, the chord that must call 
forth the tuneful harmony in the American heart is his devotion to 
freedom in the emancipation of every human being from the blight- 
ing curse of slavery. While under the guiding hand of such a cen- 
tral figure, so pre-eminent in nobility and statesmanship, Spain was 
struggling against fearful odds, which need not be mentioned, but 
which must strike the commonest apprehension, America could take 
no active steps that would impede or embarrass a struggle so fraught 
with precious germs for the future government and well-being of 
mankind. I have, therefore, no words of condemnation for the sub- 
lime patience which our people or authorities have shown in respect to 



•Cuban affairs, nor for the sublime faith manifested in respect to the 
establishment of republican government in Spain. Bat, Mr. Speaker, 
there is a limit to forbearance even should it lead to conflict. Our 
patience, while woes unutterable have been perpetrated in the 
Island of Cuba, and our faith in republics and republican institu- 
tions have secured for us the right of moral interference in the affairs 
of that most unhappy people. 

One sentiment* in connection with the subject has been submerged 
by the tide of affairs since the language of the President's message, 
from which I have read, was received by Congress — the republic of 
Spain has crumbled into ruins and passed out of existence. In its stead 
we see again that monarchy which has made so many mistakes and 
shed so much blood. It is a remarkable but perhaps a natural retro- 
gradation of the Spanish nation, yet it reverses the whole aspect of 
the Spanish-Cuban question as viewed from the western stand-point. 
Where predilection hitherto encouraged all the legitimate moral aid 
and comfort from the American people to republican Spain, it is now 
no less clearly our duty to give all the legitimate moral aid in our 
power to republican Cuba as against monarchical Bourbon Spain. 
If the situation at the time of the transmission of the President's 
message justified his temperate and moderate language, is it not cer- 
tain that the changed situation now demands that our Government 
should at once take a firm attitude, if not in recognition of the inde- 
pence of Cuba, at least in recognition of the belligerent rights of the 
revolutionists ? Has the hour not arrived in which to throw the 
weight of the moral influence of the United States in behalf of free 
Cuba. 

I propose, Mr. Speaker, in order that we may arrive at correct con- 
clusions as to the duty of the American Government in this impor- 
tant question, to speak of the subject in its general bearings, beginning- 
first, in general terms, with — 

SPANISH ACQUISITIONS E\ r AMERICA. 

The history of Spanish conquests in the western hemisphere may 
be described as a record of avarice, cruelty, bigotry, and lust nowhere 
else paralleled or even approached in the annals of mankind. If the 
great discoverer Columbus himself did not set the example of treach- 
ery, cruelty, and bloodthirstiness, it must be remembered that he was 
not a Spaniard but an Italian. He himself who gave to Spain a new 
world was made the victim, by that people and government, of con- 
tumely, cruel injustice, and atrocious ingratitude. We have but to 
carefully study the lesson given to us by the great sculptor on the 
door of our Eotunda to learn the ignominy jwhich Spain meted out 
to him who had conferred the most illustrious renown upon the 
Spanish monarchy. From that day forth until Spanish rulers were 
generally expelled from the countries of the western hemisphere, 
Spanish-American history is a record of cruelty and crime, and has 
been branded as such with an indelible stigma by the most celebrated 
of both American and European writers. If there indeed be a parallel 
to the perfidious cunning, the cold-blooded cruelty, the wholesale 
massacre of unarmed men shown in the Spanish conquests of Amer- 
ica, it can be found only in the dark and bloody and murderous his- 
tory of the Spaniards of the Netherlands. It would be a " damning- 
spot " in any nation to have produced one Alva ; but Spain has pro- 
duced many, and, most lamentable of all, has gloried in their monstrous 
deeds. The story of her deeds is in no instance, however, nor has the 
unvarying tale of outrage and of shame received a more horrible 



6 

illustration than is to be found in her dealings with Cuba, " the gem 
of the Antilles." 

It is not necessary for me to enter into a chronological account of 
events in Cuba, as the historian would do in narrating its history. 
This is the province of other fields of human inquiry and reflection. 
Statemanship has to do with general facts. It acts upon the existing 
state of things, and has to do with the past only as a' light to guide 
it in present action, and to prepare reasonable precautions and safe- 
guards against the threatened dangers and ills of the future. "I 
have but one lamp by which my feet are guided," said the great ora- 
tor of the Eevolution, " and that is the lamp of experience." Let us 
see what rays this lamp will shed upon Spanish domination in Cuba, 
so that thereby we may be enabled wisely to determine what is our 
duty for the present and the future welfare of the people of Cuba 
and those of the United States. Who can doubt that the history of 
Spanish domination in Cuba has been from the beginning a curse to 
that island, a hinderance to the cause of civilization, and an unwar- 
rantable interference by a European power with the rightful free- 
dom and independence of American peoples ? I assert that so far 
from there having been any advance in political science in harmony 
with the spirit of the age, even as evidenced by the improved condi- 
tion of the race in all monarchies save Spain, the dealings with Cuba 
by the home government have represented an era covered by the 
mouldy execrations of centuries, and made insurrections righteous and 
resistance obedience to Deity. I trust it will not be regarded as un- 
patriotic, when I declare that the wrongs of the Cuban patriots find 
more warrant in fact, more warrant in general law and natural right, 
for their attitude against Spanish domination than the American 
people had when they declared almost a century ago that they were, 
and were of right entitled to be, free and independent States. 

There are three words, sir, in which the history of Spanish dom- 
ination in Cuba, and in all her other colonial dependencies, might 
well be summed up. They are: Inhumanity; slavery; ferocity. 
From the beginning Cuba has been a colonial orange which Spain 
has been constantly squeezing. The people have been taxed with a 
colossal enormity, and the revenues of the island have been used to 
sustain an effete and licentious dynasty abroad, and corrupt, pam- 
pered task-masters at home. That the largest revenues might be 
drawn from her bleeding side, the African slave-trade was opeuly 
carried on by Spain longer than any other nation, and was clandes- 
tinely engaged in by Spanish grandees of the island for years after 
the mother country had been forced by the moral sentiment of Chris- 
tendom to denounce tha inhuman practice in the solemn stipulations 
of treaties. 

In the same wrongful interest, and for the same barbarous pur- 
pose, all the just rales of national comity have been violated in her 
commercial regulations with respect to Cuba. A heavy tribute is laid 
upon everything which enters her ports or departs therefrom ; and 
all this in direct antagonism to Cuban industries and in the interest 
of the Spanish budget. 

But, sir, the material welfare of Cuba and her people is not the 
only just cause of complaint, nor the only means of unjust discrimi- 
nation. There is scarcely a principle of civilized, not to say free, 
government which is not daily and hourly violated on her soil; and 
there is no act of savage barbarity which is not being constantly 
committed by the Spanish authorities, civil and military. Is there a 
man in this House ; nay more, is there a citizen of the country, who 



was not struck almost dumb with astonishment and horror when the 
news of the fatal massacre of the officers of the Virginius first 
reached our shores? It matters not what one might have thought of 
that unhappy enterprise — and it is scarcely necessary for me to de^ 
that it was unlawful — we could not have contemplated the untimely 
taking off, and the mode of its brutal execution, without feelings of 
indignation and detestation. Sir, such things have been of daily 
occurrence in Cuba for many long years, and it would seem that deeds 
which horrify all other people are matters of calm contemplation and 
joyous gratulation to the masters of Cuba. They seem to be the icon- 
oclasts of freedom, of human progress, and of liberal civilization. 

This, Mr. Speaker, is believed to be no overdrawn picture, and ap- 
plies with equal force to Spanish history in ail of its American affairs. 
The pages of our Prescott teem with the revolting recitals, and the 
fascinating volumes of our American Motley demonstrate that no 
pen can overdraw and no tongue can overstate the measure of Span- 
ish cruelty and perfidy during the last four hundred years. Mankind 
looks to her for cruel attacks upon all modern ideas as certainly as 
they expect free trade among British statesman, art in Italy, military 
prowess in Germany, agitation in France. 

The original settlement of the island of Cuba, it will be remem- 
bered, was brought about by the Spaniards by the commission of two 
unmitigated crimes: First, the extinction of the original population, 
save the remnants of a few hardy tribes in the mountainous regions, 
by overwork as the enforced slaves of the Spaniards ; and, second, 
the opening and extension of the African slave-trade for the purpose 
of replacing these poor Indians thus literally done to death by the 
remorseless avarice of cruel adventurers. The Spanish power had 
its origin in Cuba in these two foul crimes against humanity ; and 
when it is said that from that day until the present the history of 
Spanish domination in the Antilles'has been constantly worthy of its 
origin, enough is said to show that it is entitled not to the respect but 
to the execration of civilized mankind. From the time when the 
native population had been thus practically exterminated up to the 
year 1762, sixty thousand slaves had been imported from Africa. 
From the latter period until the year 1789, about thirty thousand 
more were imported. At this last elate the slave-trade was declared 
free by Spanish law— the only instance, perhaps, in the history of 
civilization, except in the case of the notorious "Lecompton consti- 
tution," where law has positively declared, in express terms, that man 
could have property in man. From 1789 doAvn to a very recent date 
Cuba was the principal support of this infamous traffic. And to 
this day the Spanish rulers of the island and the Catalonian volun- 
teers who riot in Cuba look upon the prohibition of the slave-trade 
by the Christian nations of the world as a wrongful interference 
with their rights and profits. 

What has been the character of these rulers ? In the whole his- 
tory of the island there have been but two or three reputable captains- 
general ; no more. All the others have governed with the sole ob- 
ject of extorting from the people all possible revenue for Spain and 
all possible profit for themselves. Indeed it has passed into the prov- 
erbs of the language, that five years only is sufficient to amass a 
stupendous fortune as captain-general in Cuba. Gentlemen may con- 
clude for themselves how lamentable must have been the history of 
such a country. It can be no matter for wonder that there has been 
little literature or eloquence and no art. All the qualities which en- 
noble man have been there repressed. And I hold it as a complete 



demonstration of the high standard in morals and intellectual attri- 
butes of the Cuban peoples that, notwithstanding the terrible govern- 
ment by which they have been ever oppressed, they are generally in- 
telligent, chivalric, and brave. Among them now — I mean among 
the Cuban revolutionists — are men learned in the professions, able 
writers and orators, skillful in the art of war, and self-sacrificing in 
their devotion to the disenthrallment of their country. 

What is the present status of the Cuban revolution ? What was at 
first generally called "the Cuban insurrection" originated in the year 
1868. In the summer of that year several leading Cubans, men of 
wealth, character, and standing in society, met together and perfected 
a plan of revolution. In the scheme to which they agreed there 
were two leading objects in view, each one of which was entitled to 
the favorable judgment of mankind. These were : the independence 
of Cuba and the emancipation of the Macks. Many conferences of the 
friends of these measures were held, and it was at last determined to 
rise in armed rebellion against Spanish domination in the month of 
November. Meantime the cause daily gained new adherents, particu- 
larly in the eastern portions of the island. Events precipitated the 
revolution quicker than had been agreed upon, and a conflict of arms 
between the patriots and Spanish troops occurred in the month of 
October. From the month of October, 1868, therefore, to the present 
moment, the Cuban " insurrectionists " as they are called by the home 
government, but "revolutionists" as they must injustice be denomi- 
nated, have made more or less formidable head against the govern- 
ment of foreigners. They have three army corps, amounting in all to 
about twelve thousand men. At one time they had in the field a 
mobilized army of well-trained and well-equipped soldiers numbering 
ten thousand three hundred men. At this hour there are more than 
this in arms against the government. Let us not underrate or under- 
estimate this force. ' Comparing the population of the two countries, 
our own revolutionary army was not relatively so large, and no 
American will quietly permit the heroes of 1776 to be insignificantly 
denominated " insurrectionists." 

In consequence of the topographical features of the country, of the 
military forces opposed to them, and certain circumstances upon 
which I need not dwell, the patriots have pursued a mode of warfare 
in small bodies, as a general rule of strategy. It has not been wise 
policy for them to concentrate their forces. Nevertheless, consider- 
able patriot armies have frequently met equal or greater forces of 
Spaniards or volunteers, and have fought pitched battles with them. 
On several occasions they have gained notable victories, and they 
have everywhere manifested a devotion to freedom, a gallantry in 
conflict, and a moderation in victory in pleasing contrast to the habit- 
ual conduct of their oppressors. From tbe beginning of the contest 
they have deserved the moral support of mankind. 

I admit, sir, freely that we are to investigate and consider this 
question not alone from the moral and humane point of view, but 
must examine it in its legal aspects. Are the Cubans patriots enti- 
tled to the recognition of the American Government as belligerents ? 
This question will be answered to a great extent by examining 
whether they are representative of the Cuban people. If tbey are, 
now that they have successfully maintained war for more than six 
years, they are entitled to such recognition from all governments, 
most especially from ours. Spanish domination in Cuba has always 
been an outrage upon Cuban rights both of person and-property, and 
has alwavs been maintained bv force alone. There has never been 



9 

any right, abstractly speaking, in it. It is not too much to say that 
it is a constant affront to modem political civilization. It is as if 
Alva were slaying with the sword and carrying the torch of devasta- 
tion in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century. It is a horrid 
anachronism. That such may be known to be the truth, let a few 
plain facts be stated. 

In ordinary times, before the revolution was inaugurated, about 
twenty thousand Spanish troops were regularly stationed in Cuba. 
There was the disciplined militia besides, always ready for instant 
call to arms. The Spanish navy in Cuban waters was never less 
than from twenty-five to thirty war vessels, carrying over two hundred 
guns and three thousand men. Since the revolution it has been in- 
creased by about thirty light-draught gun-boats, which protect the 
coast against any aid to the patriots which might be sent from 
abroad. Why this immense military power? Here is a standing- 
army for a million and a half of people about as great in numbers 
as our own regular Army, nearly all of which is engaged in guarding 
our great western frontier. There are no savage tribes in Cuba. 
This great military and naval force is there to uphold the hateful 
domination of Spain. Without it that power could not last beyond 
the hour of the setting sun. 

How has this military array exercised itself upon the patriots of 
Cuba, struggling no less heroically for freedom and independence than 
did our own ancestors, to whom we gladly accord eternal honors ? Since 
1870 the regular troops have numbered about twenty-fi\re thousand, 
the expeditionary corps thirty-three thousand more, and the militia 
in active service four thousand additional ; in all numbering more than 
sixty thousand in the field, besides seventy thousand " volunteers," 
the most detested of all the Spanish soldiery in Cuba, in garrison. 
Here is a standing army, as we may in general terms call it, of more 
than one hundred and thirty thousand men. Such is the tremendous 
force by which freedom and independence in Cuba are repressed. 
How, I asked a moment ago, is this force exercised ? Generally, I 
may say, as Spain has always exercised power, with perfidious and 
shocking cruelty. I have already referred to the barbarous haste 
with which the officers of the Virginius were butchered. This cruel 
act brought a shock to all mankind. 

But this is only one instance of the general conduct of Spanish 
Cubanrule. Eminent American citizens, and the sons of eminent states- 
men of our country, have been made to suffer death in Cuba in the 
most ignominious manner. Who can forget the bloody proclamation 
of Captain-General Valmaseda against the present revolutionists, in 
which he declared that every male over fifteen years of age found in 
the country away from his home should be shot ; that every house on 
which a white flag was not displayed should be burned ; and that all 
women and children found alone on their plantations should be 
removed to certain designated cities. The fearful atrocities of the 
volunteers in January, 1869, committed in the capital of the country 
by the indiscriminate shooting of men, women, and children, which 
were subsequently sustained by the government, are a stain upon the 
world. The whole, indeed, is one long tale of horrors. Here is a 
summing up of this dark story for three years, whicli I find in a work 
universally recognized as authority : 

According to official reports forwarded to Madrid by the United States minister, 
thirteen thousand and six hundred Cubans had been killed in battle up to August, 
1873, besides forty-three thousand and five hundred prisoners whom the Spanish 
minister admitted to have been put to death. 



30 

Here is a shocking picture indeed ! It is admitted by the Spanish 
minister that fifty-seven thousand and one hundred Cubans had been 
killed in three years of their revolution, forty -three thousand and five 
hundred of them having been murdered. No other word can fitly de- 
scribe this most heinous outrage. And still, sir, the "insurrection" 
is not suppressed. The same terrible cruelties have been in active 
existence since August, 1873. Every month quite a number of pris- 
oners of war are " put to death." The number at this time has prob- 
ably reached sixty thousand souls. How long can our Government 
and our people permit such hitherto unknown crimes to be com- 
mitted without entering our solemn protest ? Are the wretched Cu- 
bans to be again exterminated before the nations cry out against the 
woes she is now enduring ? 

It is conclusive, I think, sir, from the above statistics that the rev- 
olutionists do represent the people, and that the Spaniards are in- 
truders. Otherwise the insurrection, if it were a mere insurrection, 
would have been long since repressed, and peace, even though it were 
the peace of death, would have been restored. That it is a genuine 
revolution sustained by the people is undoubtedly true, and their 
claims for belligerent recognition are full as great, if not indeed 
stronger, than were those of our forefathers under like circumstances 
when their belligerency was promulgated by the powers of Europe. 
In proportion to population the Cubans have more men in the field 
than they, have fought as many battles, won as many victories, and 
have suffered more by pillage and hunger, devastation and want, 
exile and death. 

Their cause does not rest here, Mr. Speaker. There are still other 
powerful considerations in behalf of their recognition as belligerents 
at our hands, and to some of these I will invite the attention of the 
House. 

I affirm that the Cuban patriots are entitled to recognition by the 
law of nations. I do not propose to enter into any elaborate discus- 
sion of the principles of the law of nations bearing upon this case. 
Such learned discussions are more appropriately conducted, as it seems 
to me, in the field of diplomacy than here. I desire, however, to make 
the application of a principle in the international code which is an- 
nounced by all the great authoritative writers on the subject, and 
will not doubtless be questioned here or elsewhere. The purport of 
this principle, as it is propounded by all the recognized authorities, is 
this : That where a population sustains a government in hostility to 
the established authority until it attracts the sympathy of the world 
by its valor and determination to be free, and evinces its ability to 
maintain its opposition during a considerable period of time, it ought 
to be so far recognized as to be brought within the rules of civilized 
warfare by a guarantee of belligerent rights. This is an understate- 
ment of the scope of the principle rather than an overstatement ; and 
I believe that under circumstances as thus stated a sovereign nation 
would be wholly justifiable in recognizing a people so described as 
possessing a government of their own. 

Perhaps, sir, that instance of the recognition of a revolutionary 
government by other powers ill modern times which approaches 
more nearly the case of Cuba, was the recognition of the Greek rev- 
olution by the powers of Europe in 1827. This is expressly approved 
both by Wheaton and Woolsey, confessedly the most eminent of 
American writers on international law. Says Woolsey : 

In modern times the interference of Great Britain, France, and Russia, on be- 
half of the Greeks in 1827, -was avowedly dictated by motives of humanity. The 



11 

Greeks, after a bloody contest, had so far achieved their independence that the Sul- 
tan could not reduce them. Accordingly his vassal, Meheniet Ali, of Egypt, was 
allowed to send an army of subjugation into the Morea, and the atrocious scenes 
of fanatical war were renewed. The Greeks applied to France and England for 
help or mediation. At length, in consequence of the battle of ^Navarino, October 
20, 1827, and the French occupation of the Morea, the peninsula was evacuated by 
Mohammedan troops, and finally the independence of Greece was acknowledged. 

Mr. Wheaton, in Ms Elements of International Law, says of these 
events, and he is quoted and approved by President Woolsey, that — 

The Christian powers of Europe were eminently justified in their interference 
to rescue a whole nation not merely from religious persecution, but from the cruel 
alternative of being transported from their native land or exterminated by their 
oppressors. The rights of human nature wantonly outraged by this cruel warfare 
were but tardily and imperfectly vindicated by this measure. " "Whatever," as Sir 
James Mackintosh said, "a nation may lawfully defend for itself it may defend for 
another people, if called upon to interpose." The interference of the Christian 
powers to put an end to this bloody contest might, therefore, have been safely 
rested upon this ground alone, without appealing to the interests of commerce and 
of the repose of Europe. 

Mr. Speaker, there was no one argument in behalf of the recog- 
nition of the independence of the Greeks in 1827 which does not 
apply with greater force to the Cubans of 1875. The Greeks had not 
held out so long against the Turk as the Cubans have maintained 
themselves against the Spaniard. Not half so many of them had 
been so inhumanly slain in cold blood. They had not proclaimed the 
principles of liberty so emphatically and unreservedly. They had not 
fought with more gallantry nor endured with more fortitude. They 
were, it is true, the descendants of a great and glorious race ; of a race 
which had done more than any other to illustrate the greatness of the 
human mind, and to make for it the sublimest records in poetry, in 
eloquence, in sculpture, in architecture, and in song. On this account 
the sympathies of mankind were greatly stirred in behalf of the 
Greek revolutionists. The most illustrious poet of England then liv- 
ing escaped from the embraces of beauty and the voluptuous elegance 
of wealth to aid the Greeks, and there gloriously ended his brilliant 
and erratic life. One of our own lyrics sprang from the same iu spir- 
ing theme. Clay, and Webster, and other of our great orators and 
statesmen rarely spoke with more power and eloquence than when 
they poured out their rich gifts in behalf of the Greek revolution. 
I beg to say, with all deference to the riper experience and more ma- 
ture reflection of others, whether in the past or present, that neither 
humanity, nor liberty, nor Christian civilization was in the smallest 
degree more insulted and outraged by the Turks in Greece than 
all have been insulted and outraged by the Spaniards in Cuba during 
the whole history of the island, and especially since the month of 
October, 1868. As the best writers on the law of nations unite in 
telling us that interference in Greece was perfectly justifiable on the 
score of humanity alone, so I hold the proposition to be invulnerable 
to just criticism in the position I feel warranted in assuming, that 
the American Government should at once recognize the belligerent 
rights of the Cuban revolutionists. If our Government should go 
further and recognize their independence, it would have ample and 
well-grounded reasons to sustain it in the recognized principles of 
international law. But so much as this I do not now insist upon. 

Let us inquire for a moment into the precedents in such cases as the 
one now presented, and see whether by the light of comparison the 
Government would be justifiable in taking the course I advocate. In 
the age which succeeded the religious reformation in Europe, writers 
on international law expressly tell us that religious sympathies in- 
duced Protestant countries to aid each other against the superior 



12 

might of the Catholic, and to aid the votaries of their faith within 
Catholic states in order to secure for them, religious freedom. Says 
Wheaton : 

The great Catholic and Protestant powers mutually protected the adherents of 
their own faith in the bosom of rival states. The repeated interference of Austria 
and Spain in favor of the Catholic faction in France. Germany, and England, and 
of the Protestant powers to protect their persecuted brethren in Germany, Prance, 
and the Netherlands, gave a peculiar coloring to the political transactions of the 
age. This was still more heightened by the conduct of Catholic France under the 
ministry of Cardinal Richelieu, in sustaining, by a singular refinement of policy, 
the Protestant princes and people of Germany against the house of Austria, while 
she was persecuting with unrelenting severity her own subjects of the reformed 
faith. (Elements of International Law, page 93.) 

Those who have given themselves the intellectual pleasure of read- 
ing the works of Motley well know how the great Queen of England 
made armed interference in behalf of the Dutch in their long and 
heroic struggles with Spain. The energetic threats of Cromwell 
against the persecutors of the Waldenses had a notable influence in 
curbing the cruelty of the Duke of Savoy. I might give many other 
instances of interference on account of religion and humanity, but it 
is not necessary. 

To the principle of the recognition of revolutionary governments 
when reasonably successful, the American Government is peculiarly 
indebted. But for the recognition of American independence by 
France and other European powers, and the armed interference of 
the former in our behalf, it is certain that our revolutionary struggle 
would have been indefinitely protracted. The Government of the 
United States is the child of the very principle which, in modified 
and liberal form, I am advocating as applicable to the Cuban revolu- 
tion. 

The republic of Mexico and the states of Central and South Amer- 
ica are illustrations of the same truth. After the revolted colonies of 
Spain in the western world had for some time made head against the 
established government in their endeavor to institute republics in the 
place of monarchical dependencies, and when Spain undertook to pro- 
cure the assistance of European governments to put down these rev- 
olutions, both Great Britain and the United States energetically pro- 
tested against the right of the allied powers to interfere by forcible 
means. Hence the South American republics were successful ; and 
after many heroic acts, challenging the admiration of the world, were 
admitted into the family of nations. If some of them have not been 
all the while since so well governed as they might have been, if the 
bright anticipations of the friends of freedom have not all been real- 
ized, still it can be triumphantly asserted that by these memorable 
events humanity and freedom gained substantial victories. If Cuba 
had then been wrested from the domination of Spain, as was greatly 
desired and openly advocated by the friends of republics in South 
America, it would perhaps have been far better for the people of the 
western world and in tire end for mankind. There was then left in 
the West a remnant of kingly power, the influence of which has been 
only evil and that continually. However this may be, and I will re- 
cur to this point again in a moment, we shall find if we trace the his- 
tory of the republics of South America that in no single instance was 
there as much cause for revolt as there has been constanly and now 
is in Cuba ; that in no instance was the revolution shown to be more 
decisively a popular movement, numbers being taken into considera- 
tion; that in no instance were more just principles of government 
proclaimed by the revolutionists ; nor was the contest of arms more 
bravely conducted. It is confidently asserted that, where one good 



13 

reason or just ground for the recognition of the South American repub- 
lics existed, tenfold stronger arguments appeal upon behalf of Cuba. 

Mr. Speaker, out of these renowned contests for liberty on the part 
of the revolted colonies of Spain in the western world there arose a 
distinctive American doctrine of governmental policy. It was then 
that the Government of the United States declared that it should 
consider any attempt on the part of the allied European powers to 
extend their peculiar political system to the American continent as 
dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States. It was fur- 
ther declared by the then President of the Republic that with the 
existing colonies or dependencies of any European powers in America 
they had not interfered and would not interfere, but with respect to 
the governments whose independence they had recognized, they could 
not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or 
controlling in any manner their destiny, in any other light than as a 
manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. 
(See Wheaton's Elements of International Law, page 97.) 

This is the Monroe doctrine, and it has become the traditional 
policy of the United States. In the abstract principle, this doctrine 
means that European political institutions are not suitable to Amer- 
ica. It gives no welcome to monarchy or aristocracy. I agree that 
to this doctrine with its explanatory phrases the existence of Span- 
ish domination in Cuba is not repugnant. But the existence of that 
domination, there, is in opposition to the principle upon which this 
traditional policy of the United States is founded. It is clear that 
the United States ought to be quick rather than slow in recognizing 
republics in the western hemisphere. 

I hold, sir, to the Monroe doctrine in its broadest signification and 
widest application. It is a logical result of American freedom and 
civilization, and is a necessity for the political regeneration and prog- 
ress of mankind. Liberal doctrines are a demand of the times. The 
superstitions, the political shams of other ages are not for this con- 
tinent. They should be banished herefrom ; every relic of mere 
authority, every vestige of the blasphemous pretense of jure divino, 
every sentiment of hereditary claim. For such things the American 
continent should have no permanent abiding-place. 

Nothing, sir, in this age of progress stands still, not even a doc- 
trine. It is constantly receiving new applications. I believe in 
extending the application of the Monroe doctrine. The hour has 
perhaps arrived when we should proclaim that kingly institutions are 
contrary to the genius of America, hostile to the development of 
American civilization, and ought not to be endured on our borders. 
But this doctrine should not be thrust upon peoples at the point of 
the bayonet or at the cannon's mouth. I urge no unfriendly inter- 
ference with the affairs of other governments. With our hereditary 
policy of non-interference in the affairs of other nations I heartily 
agree. This, however, is an age of the power of public opinion, as 
was most forcibly and eloquently proclaimed by Mr. Webster when 
he advocated the recognition of the Greek revolutionary government. 
What he then said with so much truth and power is even more appli- 
cable to the present situation of affairs than it was at that time. 
Since then a grand power has gradually arisen to illumine the world, 
which was then in its infancy. The press with its myriad arms has 
literally reached intelligence to every hamlet, and almost to every 
home, throughout a vast portion of the whole world. There is a 
higher standard of intelligence in the general body-politic of every 
nation, in consequence of these and other incentives to mental im- 



14 

provement. Just how much the splendid civilization and the advance 
of the political science of our times is due to the influence of our own 
Kepublic can never, perhaps, be fully estimated. We kuow that it 
was immediately followed by great popular movements in Europe. 
The French Eevolution, that terrible rebound from the enthrallment 
of the dark ages, was largely due to our own ; and though it was 
accompanied by many unfortuitous scenes and events, it purified the 
political atmosphere of a continent, emancipated the human mind 
from ecclesiastical, monarchical, and aristocratic thralldom, and made 
that civilization possible which boasts of a Tyndall and Watson in 
science ; Buckle and Guizot in literature ; Gladstone and Bright and 
Cobden, and our own Lincoln, in statesmanship. Who can doubt, 
indeed, that to the influence of American republican institutions, in 
respect to resistance to authority and the assertion of individual 
rights, which have permeated Christendom, countless benefits have 
been conferred upon the race ? Shall it be said that such an influ- 
ence shall be "cabined, cribbed, confined ? " 

What are some of the practical aspects of this question? Cuba 
although our near neighbor, and at one time in geological history 
doubtless an integral part of the North American continent, has 
comparatively more intimate and profitable commercial relations 
with other nations than with ours. This fact, somewhat humiliating 
to our commercial activity, is to a considerable extent due to the 
decadence of American shipping, one of the deplorable results of the 
late war, and to other causes. But there are other reasons for it. 
These grow out of Spanish legislation ; treaties between Spain and 
other countries, and the regulations in respect to customs in Cuba, 
hostile to the interests of American commerce in that island. Not- 
withstanding these impediments, our imports from the Spanish West 
Indies for the year ending June 30, 1873, were over $85,000,000, and 
our exports over $17,000,000, making a total annual trade of more 
than one hundred millions, which would have probably been in- 
creased to over one hundred and fifty millions but for the reasons to 
which reference has just been made. By reason of our proximity 
to the islands, of their productions which find so readily a market 
in our ports, and which are so readily exchanged for those of our own 
country, our trade with them ought to be every year largely in ex- 
cess of the sums just named. 

But I shall not occupy the time of the House with the recital of 
mere commercial statistics. I prefer to deal with more comprehen- 
sive generalizations. Cuba is the key to the Gulf of Mexico and the 
Caribbean Sea. Upon these waters are the republic of Mexico and 
several of the states of Central America. They are upon the line of 
our travel and transportation by steamship and the Panama Railroad, 
between our Atlantic and Pacific sea-board. The commerce of all these 
countries on the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea and of the West Indies is 
more naturally tributary to the United States than to any other na- 
tion. Nevertheless we have only a small share of it all. The incipi- 
ency to our supremacy in all this commerce will be found in Cuba 
being in the possession of a government free and progressive in char- 
acter, and entertaining fraternal sentiments by reason of having 
extended to it in gloomy hours words of comfort and cheer. In full 
accord with the law of nations ; in the interest of American ideas of 
politics and civilization ; in the interest of our trade and commerce 
now and for the future ; in the interest of humanity and to prevent a 
further wanton effusion of blood, I insist on this as the time for the 
exercise of the great prerogative of nations in admitting a suffering 
people to the councils of national individuality and greatness. 



15 

Before I leave the subject of our commercial relations with the 
West Indies, I beg to refer for a moment to a question which was re- 
cently discussed by the American people — our acquisition of San 
Domingo. The underlying reason for that acquisition was never fully 
understood by the general public. It was not claimed by those who 
favored the proposition that gold flowed down the mountain slopes of 
the island ; that the rich exuberance of nature supplied all the neces- 
sities of man without a struggle, or that the inhabitants would be 
altogether a desirable class of citizens. The true reason why the 
United States should have acquired it was, because thereby our peo- 
ple would have assumed a commanding position in the commerce of 
the West Indies, and of the neighboring Spanish- American states. 
Another good reason for its acquirement was to be found in the fact 
that the possession of San Domingo by the United States would 
have opened in the future a vantage ground in our honorable posses- 
sion of other West Indian islands ; and finally to our undivided politi- 
cal and commercial supremacy in this portion of the globe — a consum- 
mation most devoutly to be wished. It is a matter of regret that 
this acquisition was not completed when the wise statesmanship of 
the day proposed it, and had so far prepared the initiatory steps that 
but a few strokes of the pen would have settled it forever. Snch op- 
portunities are rare, and only the sagacity which peers into futurity 
can fully appreciate their rich importance in the passing moment. 

Mr. Speaker, it will be readily perceived that if the statements I 
have shown are correct there are many grave and important consid- 
erations connected with what is generally known as the Cuban ques- 
tion. There lingers the only remaining relic of monarchy and 
Bourbon despotism on our continent. Everywhere else there is some 
form of representative government. There, for almost as long a period 
as Washington and his compatriots contended against the British 
Crown in this country, have the Cuban patriots withstood their fierce 
and vindictive oppressors. They have constructed a government 
modeled after the American Constitution. They have declared for 
universal emancipation. Their principles of governmental science, 
if they succeed, will be our principles ; their civilization will be our 
civilization. They are our friends and brethren and they should 
receive the assurances of our moral support. 

It may be, sir, that these people will be reduced by the Spanish 
Crown; it is physically possible ; but that reduction will be only by 
extermination. This monstrous cruelty the law of nations commands 
the world to prohibit. About ninety thousand troops have been sent 
from Spain to Cuba to suppress the insurrection since October, 1868. 
The expenses have been to that nation nearly $70,000,000 annually, or 
more than four hundred millions to the present. And yet to this 
hour so violent is the struggle, that Spain murders the prisoners cap- 
tured by her armies. These atrocities should be ended, if it can only 
be so done, by armed interference upon the part of Christian peoples. 
But the acknowledgment of belligerent rights will go far to obviate 
any such final resort. Nor can this be regarded as an insult or men- 
ace to Spain. All nations stand upon an equality of rights. Among 
these is the freedom of opinion. No nation can assume to bar the 
voice of another. The moment a nation deems that a revolutionary 
movement is entitled to belligerent rights, or indeed a more complete 
recognition, it has a right conceded by the voice of modern opinion 
and action to so declare. 

Only a few more words, sir, and I am done. The Congress needs 
not to be assured of the American sentiment in behalf of universal 



16 

liberty. It has been manifested at every period of our national ex- 
istence. Never has a struggling and oppressed people Bought to 
escape from the iron hand of despotic power, that the American heart 
did not beat in kindly sympathy. It was so in the great French 
struggle of 17^9. No people were more earnest in behalf of Greek in- 
dependence. No nation so heartily admired. Bolivar and his heroic 
compeers who achieved South American independence. When popular 
revolutions occurred in Hungary, in Germany, in Italy, in France, in 
Ireland, no eyes so kindled with generous enthusiasm at victories for 
freedom, or saddened with news of misfortune, and no arms were so 
hospitably opened to receive the defeated chieftians, as were those of 
the worthy sons of the sires of 1776. 

I appeal to this Congress to place itself in full accord with this 
American sentiment. The organized cruelty of Spanish rule in 
Cuba is an affront to the age, and its bitter malevolence is only ex- 
ceeded by its hideous monstrosities. We owe it to the past, it is the 
duty of j;he present, and the future will ascribe it to our highest 
honor, to accord the rights acknowledged by the common laws of 
modern warfare to the Cuban revolutionists. 

I make this appeal, sir, because I see this fair island like another 
Niobe of nations, with her garments dripping with the blood of her 
slain children ; her helpless feet bathed in the bright Caribbean 
waters, the tears of her sorrows, and her disheveled locks rent by the 
fire-storm of contumely and wrongs. The very genius of destruction 
seems to throw its fell shadow over her broken limbs and bruised 
form. Even her burial is forbidden by the angry passions of her 
destroyers, that her misfortunes may be eternal. 

Sir, one of our own great masters has hewn in immortal marble the 
figure of another prostrate nation. Art has contributed one of her 
grandest triumphs to celebrate the enthralldom of that people whose 
memories awaken the most sublime inspirations of the human soul. 
It is a form of surpassing beauty and perfection. With manacled 
hands it stands erect in conscious loveliness. But the lineaments of 
the sculptured face, as with averted head it seeks a last fond glance 
of the native land, betrays no pain ; nor does the shadow of fear find 
a lodging there ; nor are those delicate limbs and that chaste form 
marred by the stroke of wrong or stung with the arrow of unhappy fate. 
A deep, an almost holy resignation overspreads the countenance that 
turns to gaze upon the joys of the past, indifferent to the future. 
Sir, no such conception can portray the living Cuba. Her outward 
form, so lovely in the hands of its Creator, bears every impress of 
sorrow; her limbs are fettered in almost deathless bands ; her breast 
is torn and bleeding from the foul grasp of her ruthless ravisher : her 
countenance, alas ! turns not back to halcyon days and scenes of other 
years, for her youth was but the birth of woes. 

Possessing as she does in nature's store all that makes life desira- 
ble, both in climate and in soil, in forest and in field, in mountain 
and in plain, in lake and in river, in ocean and in shore, she yet eats 
not the bread of her own toil. Robber feet press her soil, robber 
hands snatch the fruits of enforced labor, aud robber hands wield the 
scourge of her afflictions. Still, sir, she is undaunted. Like her own 
palm, the queeu of the forest, which defies the hurricane blasts that 
sweep over her breast and proudly dashes the storms from her peer- 
less brow, the spirit of free Cuba is undying. It sighs in the morn- 
ing breeze ladened with the aroma of her own perfumed breath. It 
moans its wierd, deathless hopes adown the ravines of her lofty 
mountains. It rolls up from her plains on the widening beams of a 



17 

tropical sun's constant rays. It hurls its defiant shout in the midst 
of her raging tempests. It raises its sonorous voice in the deep roar 
of her sounding seas; and everywhere and at all hours its voiceless 
essence pervades all true hearts and cherishes all true souls. 

Sir, the peans that stir the Cuban heart reach our shores. Shall 
they awaken no echo in the breasts of their more favored brethren ? 
I hope the* hour is not far distant when we may see the new Cuba, 
arisen from the reddened couch where she now in anguish lies cov- 
ered with the wounds of shameless and wanton power, and clothed 
with the mantle of liberty, sit down at the feast of nations, where 
the jewel of her own sovereignty shall be among the brightest gems 
in the diadem of republics that crowns the western world. 

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